Into the Hat
by withgirl
Summary: Sequel to the alternate ending to 'Hero to Villain.' After being taken into the hat Emma finds herself in a strange land, but even without her memory she is determined to get back to the little brunette boy and beautiful brunette woman she has been seeing in her dreams. Now rewritten in third person (is basically a little twist on the origins of the Dark One that I thought of)
1. Chapter 1

**A/N This is just an idea I got after writing the alternate ending for Hero to Villain, sorry it's so short just wanted to see what you guys think. Also if you haven't read the first one, you don't have to but it will help :)**

Chapter one

 _The only way to describe is like falling down a rabbit hole. It felt as if I had been falling forever, eternally falling into the eternal dark nothingness._

 _Who am I? That's a great question._

 _The last thing I remember is hearing a boy shout 'do it' and then nothingness. His voice was what I had fixated on during my fall, wondering who he was, who he was talking to, whether this was his fault, although I could just feel that I wasn't._

 _Without warning my back hit what felt like hard compact grass. As I tried to open my eyes, I felt excruciating pain rippling through my whole body, it felt as if someone was trying to physically tear away my shadow, which seemed to be exactly what was happening when I opened my eyes._

 _I was surrounded by some swirling dark energy, going round and round as if it were taunting me, then it materialised into a humanoid shape, though it certainly looked like it could be a human being._

 _"You allowed the boy to take the dagger!" she shouted angrily._

 _Instantly I felt fear ripple through me, feeling as if I were looking into evil incarnate._

 _"I don't know what you're talking about!" I shouted._

 _At this it began to laugh, "oh I made sure of that, can't have you remembering who you are and trying to get back to them."_

 _I dropped to my knees, "please tell me my name and where I am," I begged, knowing that I shouldn't ask for too much._

 _It chuckled, "very well, welcome to Camelot Emma Swan," before it became pure darkness again flying away to God knows where._

 _I furrowed my brow, "Camelot?"_


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter two

Emma walked towards the big ass castle in the distance, _Camelot is a surprisingly desolate place,_ she internally sighed, as she came to the top of yet another hill.

While she walked, she desperately tried to remember anything about herself, _I don't even know what I look like,_ she realised with a pang. For now a name and a direction would have to be enough for her. As minutes stretched into hours, she began to feel fatigue consume her body, but still she continued walking. She couldn't help but wonder why the darkness had seemed so familiar, there was just something so ominous and yet so intimate about it.

Eventually she began to feel like her mind and body were going to shut down, and she couldn't help but thank whoever was listening when she saw a village just ahead. But her tiredness was forgotten, when the moment someone saw her, the tried to run away.

The blonde narrowed her eyes, and grabbed the woman's arm with a speed that surprised even herself, "why are you afraid?" she asked without pretence.

The woman seemed to be a servant of some kind, she had just dropped two empty buckets, she was dressed in a long flowing skirt, with a bonnet covering her head.

"Because you just attacked this village three hours ago," she answered, fear evident in her features, and Emma instantly released her arm.

As she looked around she finally noticed the considerable property damage, probably even looting.

"You have to believe, I didn't attack this village; I only just got here! If I had been here, why would I return?"

"Do you have a twin?" she asked sceptically.

"Yes," she lied, "and I'm on a mission to stop her, please help me."

"I can't I have to get water," she sighed, as she picked up the bucket and began to walk away.

Inspecting the broken surroundings one more time, Emma noticed that the woman had dropped one of the buckets. "Hey you dropped this," she called, easily catching up to her.

"Why won't you leave me alone?" she grumbled, before noticing the other woman had the bucket and making to grab it.

"Please tell me what happened?" Emma asked, holding the bucket slightly out of reach.

"And what do you want in return?" she asked with narrowed.

Emma sighed, and brought the bucket down, "allow me to help you with the water and then answer my questions...also your name would be helpful."

Looking at the nearly setting sun, she deflated slightly, "fine, my name is Guinevere."

 _Why does that sound familiar?_ Shaking her head she replied, "Emma...so who's the water for?"she asked while following the other woman to the well.

"You ask a lot of questions," she pointed out.

"I'm new around here," Emma replied.

"The village?"

"Camelot," the blonde answered.

"Where are you from?" Guinevere countered.

"Now who's asking a lot of questions?" Emma quipped, before walking forward and taking her fill of water, and walking back to the path. _Probably shouldn't add memory loss into the mix._

"Okay, no more questions, but we need to go this way," she smirked, pointing in the opposite direction.

Emma nodded sheepishly, and gestured for the other woman to lead the way.

* * *

About ten minutes later they arrived at the blacksmiths, with a tall muscular man forging long swords.

Emma offered him a small smile allowing Guinevere to do the talking, but before she could he grabbed one of the finished weapons and made to attack, only to be stopped.

"Father, this isn't her, apparently there's two of them," she tried to restrain him.

He looked at the blonde disbelievingly, "twins," Emma squeaked.

She realised that she must have looked completely non-threatening, because he began to laugh, "you're clearly not the same person, so why are you here?"

"I'm here to stop her," Emma replied somewhat confidently.

He gave her a disbelieving look, "are you sure about that?"

In that moment her resolve finally shattered, "I'm not sure about anything! The only thing I know is my name, I don't even know what I look like."

He shook his head in surprise, and looked to his daughter, _probably silently asking where she found the crazy._

"I know I haven't done anything to deserve this yet, but please help me," she begged.

"Do you really want to stop your 'sister'?" he asked.

Emma nodded vigorously, "I don't know exactly who she is, but if she's hurting people, then I will stop her."

He suddenly broke into a smile, "you know, Camelot could use more people like you, Thomas by the way."

"Emma Swan...so you trust me?" She asked in shock.

He inspected her for a moment, "against my better judgement, I trust you. Just make sure that that trust isn't misplaced."

* * *

The blonde spent the next couple of days helping out at the blacksmith, working with Gwen, making deliveries, of course before she could go out in public everyone had to be told exactly who she was. In exchange for her services, Thomas allowed Emma to stay in his house, and offered her clothes and food. Gwen also tried to answer all of her questions. All she knew was that Emma's 'twin' was terrorising towns across Camelot, and that no one knew why.

Days turned into months, and Emma considered just staying. She began to feel like a part of the community; despite the town peoples' initial fear they had come to trust her completely. But each night she lay awake, thinking that she had a responsibility to help, she just wished that she could understand why.

When the weeks turned into three months, Emma finally got her answer.

Humming contently to herself, the blonde stood in the stables shovelling manure for a stable hand who had broken his arm, only to be interrupted by imposing white smoke, out of which an ageing man began to materialise.

Instantly she lifted the shovel and asked, "who the hell are you?"

"Please Miss Swan, that is not necessary," he laughed while holding up his hands in mock surrender.

"How do you know my name?" she asked sceptically, gripping the shovel harder.

"Lets just say I'm invested in your future," was his confusing reply.

"Is that supposed to make me trust you?" Emma laughed.

"Please, just listen to what I have to say and then you can decide whether or not to hit me with the shovel," he answered with a kind smile.

"Okay, then talk," she sighed, eventually dropping the shovel.

"My name is Merlin," he replied, and Emma furrowed her brow, _there's that déjà vu again._

She pushed past this familiarity and simply nodded.

"This isn't my time, in fact I believe I may be around seventeen at the moment," he chuckled, "but my story doesn't begin quite yet, but yours began long before you were born."

"Excuse me?" she asked, tempted to bring the shovel back up.

"Does the phrase Dark One sound familiar?" she nodded instantly, though she was not sure exactly what it was. "Well your fate and it's have always been tightly woven for all of eternity. But I digress, that is not important just yet."

"I disagree."

"I asked you to listen to me Miss Swan. There is a fate that you need to fulfil before you can return home."

"And what is home?" Emma asked.

"I wish I could give you more, but the darkness really did a number on you" he waved his hands, "I have given you as much memory as possible. I'm afraid it's just snippets, you'll probably only be able to see it in your dreams. But it should be enough for you to do as I say. In a month there is a knight tournament, you must win it if you wish to go home," without warning he disappeared.

Drawing it up to a work induced hallucination, she sighed and decided to go and take a break.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter three

 _"Miss Swan, please refrain from getting popcorn on my couch, or you will be sitting on the floor," a beautiful brunette threatened._

 _"Come on Regina, it's movie night, stop moaning," Emma laughed while stuffing more popcorn into her mouth._

 _"I don't care what night it is," she scowled, as she took the bowel off her and gave it to a boy who sat next to her who seemed to be very engrossed in the movie. "Maybe Henry can be more mature than you're being," she quipped while returning her attention to the screen._

 _Crossing her arms, Emma fell to the back of the couch mourning the loss of her popcorn, and began planning ways to get it back._

"Emma, wake up," Gwen shouted.

"What?" she shot up.

"You have ten deliveries to make; don't you usually wake up earlier?"

"Yeah, I couldn't sleep," Emma lied, as she rubbed the grogginess from her eyes. "I'll go in ten minutes."

Nodding, she began to turn away, the blonde quickly stood up as she asked, "can I ask you question?"

Turning she began to smile, "that was part of this arrangement right, never known someone to want to be paid in answers," she said almost to herself.

"There's a knights tournament in a few weeks right?" she nodded, "do you have to be a certain class to join or pass some test?"

"No, anyone can join, the first round is just one long elimination contest."

"Elimination?" Emma gulped.

"It's just defeating the other in battle, I think if you kill anyone before the final round you actually get disqualified. Why do you ask? You can't think you should join?"

"Well Thomas is providing weapons for it right?" again she nodded, but she still looked at the blonde like she was crazy, "so I'm going to be there anyway, I just feel like I should join."

"How can someone with no memories have such a strong feeling?"

"Trust me Gwen, the feelings are all I have," Emma laughed bitterly.

"Well if you think it will help, I suppose just entering the first round won't get you killed."

As she walked away, another question came into the blonde's head that she knew Gwen wouldn't be able to answer, _what's a movie?_

* * *

For the next few weeks Emma continued to have similar dreams.

She began to see a pattern, _I spent a lot of time with Regina and Henry._ But she also dreamed of others, she saw a woman with a pixie cut and a blonde man , that she called 'mom' and 'dad'. Although, the fact that they looked to be about the same age as her, she decided to file it away for later. But she also noticed that she always felt completely and utterly happy in these dreams. She couldn't help but wonder why she had left, she was beginning to think that Merlin had left out some specific memories.

Emma continued to be the villages personal errand girl.

But whenever she managed to have a break, she managed to sneak away one of Thomas's swords, and began swinging it.

"You know you won't hurt many people that way? I mean you could probably do a number on yourself," a twenty something guard laughed.

"Shut up Jackson," Emma pouted, but after a moment of his staring she sighed, "fine, what am I doing wrong?"

"You have to centre your weight more, if you fall over you probably won't very far," he laughed, drawing his sword, he began to demonstrate.

From that point on, Jackson became her unofficial trainer, basically teaching her everything he knew. By the end of each session he would usually murmur begrudgingly that she was 'a natural.'

Two weeks before the tournament, Emma walked into the blacksmith, mentally going through every move she and Jackson had gone over. Since they were leaving tomorrow, today had been her last training lesson. Though she had been terrified, he had assured her that she would be fine, and to only tell people that he had trained her if she didn't her ass kicked in elimination.

Placing the water on the floor, Emma attempted to strerch her aching muscles, which sadly only seemed to help for a few moments.

Thomas looked up, from the last batch of weapons he had forged, and smiled, "you know, I've never met such a kind stranger in my life."

"You've done a lot for me, I owe you," Emma returned, moving over to help him move the swords onto a wagon.

"Yes you owe me, not the entire village. You have more than made up for what you're 'twin' did."

Emma raised her eyebrow at his use of air quotes and asked, "you don't believe we're related?"

"You're just too different," he laughed, as they placed the last sword onto the wagon, he smiled and said, "I have a gift for you."

Emma tilted her head, wondering why he would feel the need to give her a gift when he had basically saved her from starvation.

From a shelf behind him, he produced a sheathed sword. It's hilt was engraved with the image of a warrior defeating a dragon, and it's blade was as meticulously made as any of the others, if not more. It was certainly an improvement on the throwaway one she had been using with Jackson.

Inspecting it in awe, the blonde managed to choke out, "why?"

"Well, we want someone from this town to actually have a shot of winning that tournament," he chuckled at the shocked look I gave him, before he explained, "Gwen told me."

"I want you to get back to Regina and Henry," Gwen smiled while walking past the other two, "by the way; you talk in your sleep."

* * *

The next day, Thomas, Emma and Gwen (after much convincing on Emma's behalf) set off for the tournament.

With Thomas guarding the rear on a horse, the two girls sat upon the carriage, each holding a set of reins.

"So what are they like?" Gwen asked out of the blue.

"Who?" Emma asked with a furrowed brow.

"You're family," she replied with an exasperated sigh.

"They might just be dreams, you know?"

Gwen shook her head and asked, "do they feel like dreams?"

Emma let out a dramatic sigh and relented, "they're perfect."

"So are you going to tell me why you're so desperate to join this tournament?"

"You won't believe me," the blonde laughed.

"Try me," she retorted.

"A wizard told me to join," Emma replied with a wry smile.

"Sounds reasonable," she replied without a trace of sarcasm.

"Really?"

"Well...no, but you are a pretty strange person."

Emma nodded in agreement and they both began to laugh.

* * *

After a six day journey that involved a lot of camping and stretches of complete silence, the trio finally arrived at castle town. As the name suggests it was literally a town beneath the castle, and Emma realised for the first time that the royalty would be watching her fight, which for some reason made her feel ten times more nervous.

Having promised to still carry out her other duties while in the tournament, she stood at the carriage as she helped Thomas unpack the weapons onto yet another wagon that she had to take to the castle.

Gwen leaned against the stable door watching as people bustled around, only for a sudden sharp intake of breath to catch the blonde's attention.

"What's wrong?" Emma asked.

Gwen pointed into the crowd, and Emma instantly knew what was wrong. Though the two of them were quite obviously identical, there just seemed to be something darker about her twin, and Emma couldn't help but feel like there was no way she could be her sister.

Without another thought, Emma grabbed her sword, and ran after her, much to the protestations of Thomas and Gwen.

The darker Emma just smirked as she watched the other blonde approach her, and began to walk casually to the opening of an alleyway.

"Who are you?" accompanied the sound a sword being drawn.

"Come now, Swan, are you that damaged that you can't recognise me?" she laughed.

Emma felt unable to process what she had said, as she realised that this other her had the same voice as the darkness as the darkness. Now she had taken on a completely human form, with the only major difference between them being her stunningly frightening golden eyes.

"I still don't know who you are," Emma retorted.

She drew her sword; Emma's having gone forgotten at her side.

Just before she brought the hilt down upon Emma's head she laughed and said, "I'm you."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter four

- _"Your Henry's birth mother?"_

- _"Sister, you have no idea what I am capable of."_

 _-"You may not be strong enough but maybe we are."_

 _-"But if we teamed up, if you taught me."_

 _-"But maybe I need you."_

 _-"You thought we were friends."_

"Emma! Please wake up," Gwen asked desperately, and a moment later, Emma shot up breathing deeply, and looking very much disorientated.

"What happened?" she asked, once she finally recognised Gwen's friendly face.

"I was just behind you, I was too late to stop her from hitting you. But for some reason she just walked away laughing as soon as she saw me," Gwen replied, looking very much guilty.

 _So Henry is my son,_ Emma realised, _but what is Regina to me?_ From her dreams she had assumed that they were friends, but every time she saw her, she had the urge to grab her and kiss her, _was it unrequited love?_

Emma shook her, almost like she was trying to shake the thought away, and turned to Gwen, "thank you for saving my life."

"I think you're exaggerating," she replied modestly.

"Are you okay?" a teenaged boy interrupted, rushing passed the uncaring passersby.

"I just fell," Emma lied, while inspecting the weedy boy; _he looks familiar._

She felt pain begin to radiate through the back of her head, and brought her hand to the back of her head on reflex.

"I can help you," he replied, while kneeling down next to the blonde. Before she could protest he held a hand over the back of her head and whispered something. Instantly, Emma felt a soothing sensation battle against the pain, and when it was over she let out a sigh of relief/

When the boy had finished his magic, Gwen gasped as if she just realised something, "you're a wizard."

The boy chuckled, "apprentice actually, Merlin," he extended his hand which Gwen gratefully shook.

"Gwen and this is Emma."

Gwen gave the blonde a curious look as she stared at Merlin in astonishment, then she remembered that his older counterpart had mentioned being only seventeen in this time, and shook her head.

"Thank you, Merlin," she tried to appear less strange.

Despite this, he must have assumed that she was concussed, as he replied, "my master should probably check you, I am the apprentice after all," he said timidly.

* * *

Though she had tried to convince Gwen and Thomas that she was fine, they still basically forced her to go with Merlin, who, much to her surprise, led her to the castle. But before Merlin led her away, Gwen had whispered, "this is the magical centre of Camelot, you should really ask about memory loss." To be honest, Emma had felt like a complete idiot for not thinking of that herself.

As they entered he explained, "I work for the royal physician."

A few moments later, she sat on a stone table, with Merlin's master inspecting his apprentices work, "you did a very good job Merlin," the man smiled proudly.

Staring in wonder at all the potions stacked on a nearby shelf, Emma asked, "do you have anything for memory loss?"

Merlin's master tilted his head, "you suffered memory loss?"

Emma looked at the paling Merlin and she quickly held up her hands, "I lost my memory a few months ago, but there's no apothecary in my village."

"Oh," Merlin calmed, before handing her a little jar of blue liquid from the shelf.

Emma was about to down it, only to be stopped, "with the head injury, I would suggest waiting until the morning," Merlin's master warned.

Emma dropped her arm in disappointment, but nodded, "thank you," she smiled, handing him a few coins for the potion.

"Merlin, Arthur asked for water," a generic servant boy shouted through the door before he ran away.

"You're a servant, an apprentice and a physician?" Emma tilted her head in disbelief, after pocketing her potion.

"The apprentice and physician are the same thing, magic is only allowed for healing purposes in Camelot," Merlin explained while he grabbed a few buckets. "As for the servant thing, the apprenticeship doesn't pay, glad you're okay by the way."

Emma quickly thanked his master again, and rushed out to intercept Merlin.

She grabbed one of the buckets and said, "please, let me help you, I owe you."

He frowned, "I don't help people for favours."

"This isn't entirely selfless," the blonde admitted, Merlin nodded and began to follow him to the well, "I have a question that I hope you can answer."

"Okay," he replied, while beginning the process of collecting water.

"Can one person exist as two separate entities?"

"What a strange question," he laughed.

"Please, I don't know who else to ask that won't write me off as crazy," she pleaded.

Merlin thought for a moment, before he nodded, "yes, in theory. I have read accounts of a magical person having two warring aspects, so their magic forces the two aspects apart, but these accounts are generally considered folklore."

Emma sighed in frustration, _did she get all the memories?_ She wondered.

Emma took one of the filled buckets off the young wizard and proceeded to follow him to Arthur's chambers.

The blonde realised that she must have been deep in thought, because she failed to notice Merlin's questioning looks, until he asked, "has this happened to someone you know?"

"I think so," Emma sighed, "it seems like the only explanation, but it also sounds far too insane."

"It does, doesn't it," he laughed. "Well, you know where to find me if you ever want to tell me the whole story."

"I don't know if I understand the whole story," Emma smiled sadly.

"Let me know when you figure it out, it sounds very interesting," he laughed.

Emma smiled back at the wizard, she placed the bucket down outside the Arthur's chambers and said, "thank you, Merlin."

* * *

Emma walked into the inn that they were staying in, and noticed Thomas and Gwen sitting at a table in the far end of the room.

Gwen gave her a questioning look, to which she answered with a smile, "he said I'm fine."

"Are you going to tell us what happened with your 'twin,'?" Thomas asked.

"Apparently we're the same person," the blonde replied, knowing how insane the words were.

"How is that possible?" Gwen asked.

"I wish I knew, I can't remember ever acting like her," I answered.

"You really need to get your memories back, did you ask Merlin's master about memory loss?" Thomas asks.

Emma nodded and pulled out the potion, "he said I can take it in the morning and it should bring all my memories back."

Thomas smiled down at the liquid and almost whispered, "magic never ceases to amaze me."

"So you get your memories back tomorrow, and your joining the biggest tournament in Camelot, tomorrow is a big day for you," Gwen laughed

"I thought you said you were against me entering," Emma asked, while putting the potion away.

"I can't stand you moping, maybe you're less insufferable when you remember," she laughed, as she placed a beer in front of the blonde and urged her to drink, "the first round is tomorrow, so you may need some liquid courage."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter five

 _Regina sighed as she sat at her desk reading a form that David had sent her from sheriff's station. Looking at his perfect handwriting, she longed to be reading Emma's chicken scratch. Even if it was the most irritating thing at the time, at least it would mean that she would still be here._

 _Every day she wondered whether there was anything that she could have done, whether she had given up too early. She just couldn't believe that it had been two years since she had essentially killed Emma._

 _"Hey Regina," Snow said as she walked into the office with a Granny's bag._

 _Regina offered a weak smile as she placed the form down. Though having lunch with anyone but Emma left a huge gaping void in her heart, she had come to realise that Snow was as crippled with grief as she was, so they had become tentative friends, though the lost saviour was often their only topic of conversation._

 _Snow sat down and offered Regina her chicken salad, "thinking about Emma?" she asked with a sad smile._

 _Though they each suffered daily with their loss, it felt particularly bad on the anniversary, they had each only left the graveyard half an hour ago, when Snow had offered to pick up lunch._

 _"I usually am," Regina answered._

 _"You know no one blames you right?" Snow asked._

 _"Logically, I understand that I had to do it, but it just feels like..." Regina shook her head, feeling unable to finish her thought._

 _"You feel like you could have done something else?" Snow asked empathetically._

 _Regina nodded sadly, only for their lunch to be interrupted as Belle ran into the office._

 _"Did we have an appointment?" Regina asked, looking at her schedule._

 _Belle shook her head as she tried to catch her breath, before she placed a book on Regina's desk._

 _"What's this?" Snow asked looking at the worn out cover._

 _"I was looking through my collection, and I came across this, it's a history of the Dark One," she replied._

 _"So?" Regina asked, though she felt her stomach clench in hope._

 _"It's hard to explain," Belle answered._

 _Snow's eyes widened, and asked, "so why are you here?"_

 _"I talked to Rumple about what I read, and he agrees that the good Emma is probably alive."_

* * *

Emma stretched and woke with a yawn. She couldn't help but smile at her latest dream of a family dinner with Regina and Henry. She looked outside to see that it wasn't quite morning, and sighed in frustration. Merlin's master had been very clear that she had to wait. She turned to see Gwen still fast asleep in the other bed.

To pass the time, she decided to get a head start on her chores, so she tied her sword to her belt, pocketed the potion and made her way to the stables.

Emma spent the next hour grooming the horses, trying to refrain from breaking the strict instructions; all she wanted was to remember. It was hell to have to wait knowing she had the solution in her pocket.

A sound interrupted her, and she turned to be faced with her mirror image, "I expected you to be here later, you stole a dramatic moment from me," she laughed.

Looking at her, Emma noticed that the other woman was leaned cockily against one of the horses. She drew her sword, and asked, "What do you want?"

"I just wanted to talk to you," she smirked Emma brought the sword closer to her neck, only to have it pushed away, "no need to be violent."

Emma sighed in resignation, and asked again, "what do you want?"

"I want you to go back to that little village and live out your life there," she explained.

Emma narrowed her eyes and asked, "why? I'm clearly no threat to you."

"Surprisingly, you are the only threat to me in this time," she laughed.

"Time?" Emma asked.

"You really have no memories? You know that you're 10,000 years in the past, right?" she chuckled.

"10,000 years?" the blonde choked out.

"Thinking out Regina?" she laughed.

Shock must be written across Emma's feature features, because her counterpart began to laugh harder, "you really still think that you can return to the way thing were?"

"I don't know that much about the way things were," Emma reply with anger dripping through her voice. "What makes you think that I would do what you want anyway?"

"I just thought I would ask nicely, how about we make a deal, I'll tell you anything and you just stop trying to interfere."

Considering this for a moment Emma replied "no way, I'll never stop trying to stop you."

"Ever the hero," she muttered, "I guess there is another option."

Raising her hand, Emma's mouth fell open as she saw a ball of energy charge. She threw it straight at her twin, who just about managed to dodge it.

"What was that?" the blonde breathed.

"It's a sleeping curse, I can't kill you but I do need to get rid of you."

"Why can't you kill me?" she asked.

"Why would I kill myself?"

"So we are the same person?" Emma asked as she raised her sword in defence.

"Very perceptive," she laughs, "if it helps you can just call me Swan, when thinking about me in your eternal dreams."

At her admission, Emma began to develop a theory. When Swan raised her hand for another attack, Emma imagined a barrier surrounding her, as the magic approached Emma, it fizzled out.

"Impressive," she laughed.

Breathing harder, Emma demanded "tell me what's going on!"

Swan shook her head and smirked, "now where would the fun be in that?" she laughed, "you are stronger than I thought, I suppose I will have to use more conventional methods," she pondered, "until next time saviour."

She disappeared in a cloud of pure darkness, and Emma just stared for a few moments.

Not even bothering to check the sun, she took out the phial and downed the blue liquid.

Suddenly memories began flashing through mhermind. Foster care. Being a bailbonds woman. Storybrooke. The curse. Cora. Neverland. Zelena. The Snow Queen. The Queens of Darkness. Becoming the Dark One. And most importantly Regina and Henry.

Emma leaned against one of the horses for support, and looked around trying to take calming breathes, "holy shit, I'm in Camelot," she noted.

"Indeed you are," a male voice chuckled.

Emma gulped, and looked up, "what do you want Merlin?"

The old man laugh good naturedly, "just checking on you."

"Why didn't you give me the memory potion?" Emma asked accusatorily.

"I'm afraid that in the following years the book that the potion was in will be destroyed. Unfortunately I never got to study the ingredients, so it can no longer be made," he answered, "to be honest Emma, I forgot that it ever existed."

Emma rolled her eyes and muttered, "of course."

"Well now that you remember, you know that you need to get home."

"I've known that for a while, I just don't even understand why I'm here," she sighed.

"I'm afraid it may be difficult to explain," he replied.

"Okay whatever, answer me this, who is the Dark One here?"

"You are," he replied as if it were obvious.

"I meant who is it for this time period," Emma sighed.

"And I answered your question, the Dark One doesn't exist yet," he replied, "well I suppose you personally aren't the Dark One, you're the saviour."

With a exasperated sigh she asked "what?"

"When you came through the hat you spilt into the two aspects of yourself."

Shaking her head she decided to just accept it, "okay, so what's with the tournament?"

"You have to win, she is entering," he replied.

"Why would she join?"

"Because the winner gets to become a royal knight, if she does that than she will be able to start on the way to controlling all of Camelot."

"But I thought that she wants to just destroy things?" Emma asked with a furrowed brow, finally pushing herself off of the side of the horse.

"The Dark One is sadistic, but also incredibly smart," he replied.

"So what, you want me to stop her?" she asked.

"Well you are a much better prepared with your memories back," he reasoned.

"If I couldn't defeat the darkness internally, what makes you think that I can defeat the physical incarnation of it?" she pointed out, with a deep sigh.

"Well if you want to get back to your family you have no choice," he replied.

"Well obviously I can't kill her, so what do you suggest," she asked mockingly.

"You could channel to darkness into another person," he suggested.

"I would never do that to another person," the blonde replied with outrage evident in her voice.

"Not even if it is what is supposed to happen?" he asked.

"If you know what is supposed to happen, why not just tell me?" she almost begged.

"This is going to seem strange, but Camelot is where the first Dark One was created," he explained.

"You're right it's insane," she replied sarcastically.

"You were the first and last Dark One," he replied with a completely serious expression.

"What?" Emma sighed.

"Well originally the darkness essentially ruled all realms, until you were born. As the saviour you fought the darkness, but you couldn't defeat it so you absorbed it."

"That's not what happened."

"Not in your timeline, being bound to a mortal the darkness lost a lot of its power, and it meant that it could no longer rule all realms. I realised that your mortal body would not be able to control the darkness for eternity, so we devised a plan that worked very well. You sacrificed yourself went back in time to when the darkness first emerged. It was that moment that you woke up at, you created the Dark One and ensured that the darkness could be contained into a mortal being forever and also could be controlled by the dagger. It appears that things have come full circle, you have returned once again, I believe that you have trapped the Dark One in a time loop, in your time the Dark One can never exist again, you have essentially stopped the darkness's reign of terror," he explained.

"You expect me to believe in an alternate timeline?" she laughed, hoping that this was some elaborate prank.

"You need to face her in battle so that you can create the true first Dark One and return to your life as the saviour."

Emma nodded, "I guess that makes sense, but I still can't kill her."

"You don't have to kill her, simply sending the darkness into another, will allow you both to live."

"And who do you expect me to do that to?" Emma asked in outrage.

"She doesn't exist yet, the name of the first Dark One, however, was Morgana."

"Are you kidding me, you expect me to wait for Morgana to be born and grow up?" _I can't spend that much time away from my family,_ she thought.

"I said she doesn't exist yet, and nor will she unless you create her," he replied.

Emma fell back against the horse again and held her hands over her face, desperately trying not to scream, _how did my life get more complicated?_


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey guys**

 **I thought I should let you guys know that this fic has been completely re-written (I decided to keep the first chapter in first person, but the rest will be in third person)**

 **I also made a few detail changes to the last couple of chapters, just so it will flow with the new plot ideas I had (once again thank you AmazonianThiefEss and QueenApples for helping me out, you're both awesome XD).**

 **Please review and let me know what you think of the changes, and I hope you enjoy the updated version.**

 **Thank you guys for your patience :** )

PS- it's like super early in the morning, so I'll try and correct any mistakes tomorrow if I have time :)


	7. Chapter 7

Hey guys

Sorry I haven't updated in a while, I just don't feel motivated to finish this one, so please feel free to send me any ideas since I'm blocked.

Alternatively, I could just delete this fic and focus on my other ones, since I don't want one on my profile that I may never finish.

Please let me know :)


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